If you yourself are living in the diabetes belt I can only assume that your teeth are as well. But what exactly is the diabetes belt? No it’s not the latest fashion in ladies jeans belts. It’s not fashionable at all really.
If you live in Mississippi or certain parts of Arkansas, Texas, Ohio, Louisiana, Alabama, Tennessee, South or North Carolina, Virginia or West Virginia, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Florida or Georgia you may be living in the diabetes belt. How on earth did the ‘experts’ arrive at this conclusion? They considered things such as ethnicity/race, gender, education, age, obesity and lifestyles that border on sedentary.
This is only common sense if you really think about it. Sufferers of diabetes have unusually high blood sugar levels if they don’t take their insulin. And how does sugar get along with your teeth? Technically, periodontal disease plays havoc on a body’s blood sugar; and alternately, diabetes actually causes added difficulties with the influence of periodontitis.
Percentages speak volumes so in case you’re wondering just how bad diabetes is in the diabetes belt, check this out: outside of the areas listed above the general population of the United States sits at approximately 26% diabetes sufferers—inside the diabetes belt—33%.
